Ryu Yamaguchi
Ryu Yamaguchi is a Jonin-Level shinobi originally from Amegakure, specializing in assassination. He and his team left Amegakure and moved to Kirigakure to escape the rule of Pain, when Ryu returned to Amegakure to help establish new leadership under his sensei, Kumiko Maeda. Appearance Ryu is a very short, skinny shinobi, ideally suited for clandestine operations. He has collar-length silver hair and pale skin, earning him the nickname “Lunar Child” among his friends. He has an intense look to his face, and is often seen locking his lips together tightly as if he is ready to attack at any moment. Despite this, when he is around his friends his face softens greatly, betraying his true emotions in spite of himself. While living in Kiri, He wore a variation on the standard Kirigakure outfit consisting of a dark blue pinstriped jumpsuit with no sleeves by his request, under a grey flak jacket, and black shinobi sandals. Now that he lves in Ame, he has switched out his pinstripe jumpsuit for a deep purple one, but his outfit remains otherwise unchanged. He wears his Amegakure forehead protector as an armband, and in reference to his birthplace, on the back of the right shoulder of his flak jacket, he has a special symbol consisting of a combination of the Amegakure and Kirigakure symbols. He wears his dual tanto’s in black scabbards on his back. Personality Ryu is an impulsive, often cocky shinobi. He is very confident in his skills, and is quick to jump into combat, sure of his victory. His impulsiveness puts him at odds with his more methodical partner, Makoto Tamagiri, but he truly cares for his team, frequently putting his life on the line for their sake. In spite of his impulsiveness, Ryu is generally quiet, unless angered, at which point he often ends up in shouting fits. He is a fairly socially active person, getting along with most people due to his quiet nature and excellent listening skills, and quite popular with women for the same reason, to his utter indifference. He is very loyal to his home village, and indeed is fiercely loyal in general, known for being willing and able to spill blood for any cause he truly believes in. Background Early Life Ryu’s parents were very busy and important shinobi, both members of the Amegakure special forces so Ryu did not see them very often. However, his father in particular tried his best to give him a much attention as possible, and passed on his tanto to Ryu when he retired. His mother was more absent, often being gone for weeks at a time on secret missions. Even so, Ryu inherited much of his skill from her, and whenever she had a spare day at home, she would spend as much time as she could helping Ryu train. As a result, he was above average from the beginning, with an understanding of basic ninja techniques by the time he reached academy age. Genin Career Ryu graduated from the Academy with high marks in practical skill, but poor written exam and mediocre chakra control grades. As such, he was assigned to team Kumiko to help round out his skills. At first, he got along poorly with Makoto and Reina, but after several missions, he grew to respect them and eventually opened up to them. It was during his Genin career that he mastered the use of his father’s sword which was at that time his only one. He began looking into nature transformation after seeing his teammates’ proficiency in it, but couldn’t get the hang of it until much later. Chunin Exams and Aftermath At the chunin exams, Ryu’s opponent in the finals was another kenjutsu master by the name of Kenshin from Takumi Village. They were evenly matched, and after a long and grueling battle, Ryu had his blade to Kenshin’s throat. Instead of killing him, Ryu declared the match over. Both ninja were promoted for the promise they showed during the match. In exchange for his life, and in recognition of his skill, Kenshin had his father create a special tanto for Ryu out of chakra-infusing metal, similar to the blades of Asuma Sarutobi, which allowed Ryu to channel his own Chakra through it. In addition, he plated Ryu’s father’s tanto with the same metal so it could be used in the same way. After he obtained his new blades, his sensei, Kumiko Maeda, began personally training him in nature transformation due to her expertise in infusing weapons with chakra. As a result, he learned of his wind affinity and in addition, learned of his unique ability to induce genjutsu in the heat of battle at the cost of some effectiveness, though at the beginning he could only produce small illusions. Chunin Career As a Chunin, Ryu remained very close with his team-mates, though he was no longer in an official squad with them. He remained a Chunin for several years, growing a reputation as an exceptionally deadly ninja, capable of striking down most opponents with one well-placed blow. As such, he was sent on many assassination missions, similar to his parents before him. Leaving Amegakure Late in his chunin years, Ryu and his team made the difficult decision to move away from Amegakure, and Ryu was the most reluctant to leave. He felt that he could not abandon the village and its citizens for whom he had spilled so much blood. In fact, he almost stayed in the village with his sensei, and even engaged in a serious fight with Makoto over the matter. However, through Reina’s intervention, they reached the compromise that they would return when conditions in the village improved. Welcome in Kirigakure After moving to Kirigakure, Ryu was reluctant to join the community of his new home, and even more so to perform missions for it. The citizens of his new home weren't helping either, greatly distrusting Team Kumiko because of their village of origin and its akatsuki connections. However, after some time, and after meeting some new friends in Kirigakure, he began warming up to it and its people. However, he stands by the conclusion to return to Amegakure, still thinking of it as his true home. Jonin Career Ryu reached the rank of Jonin at the age of 22, the same as his team-mates. As he continued to train his skills, he has begun to master his wind release techniques, and learned to infuse Yang Release chakra into his wind techniques to enhance their power. He has been repeatedly encouraged to join the Kirigakure ANBU, but he is adamantly against it, knowing that if he joined, he would be unable to leave the village when the time came. Death of Pain and Rise of the First Amenokage After Pain's death, Ryu was eager to return to his home village, where he was welcomed by his sensei, who took leadership of the village as the First Amenokage. He is currently a Jonin Commander on the Amenokage's council, and he retains a strong friendship with his friend Makoto in kirigakure. He still wears the Team Kumiko logo to symbolize their friendship, but Ryu has no regrets about returning to his new home. Abilities Chakra Control Control of his chakra was always one of Ryu’s weakest areas. He is very poor at controlling pre-existing elements, much preferring to make his own to manipulate. Still, his ability at genjutsu shows that he has at least some control over the chakra network itself Kenjutsu Ryu is a master at the use of his dual swords. His father taught him many of his basic techniques, contributing to his relentless attack style and blinding speed. His strategy in combat is to disorient the opponent with his speed and strike while they are still trying to assess the situation. As a result, strategist-type shinobi such as Makoto often have trouble defeating him, and any ninja unable to match his speed must have powerful defenses to stand a chance. Agility Ryu can use his wind chakra to move at super-human speeds in short bursts. Not many shinobi can match his speed, and as a result, many of his opponents are struck down before they even see him. Still, his speed only works at full capacity for a few minutes. After that, he becomes slow enough for his opponent to counter attack. Wind Release Because of the material in his swords, Ryu is an expert at channeling his wind chakra through them. As such, most of his techniques revolve around channeling his chakra through his swords. He can increase the sharpness of his blades tenfold, use them to conjure blades of wind to attack his enemies, and his favorite techniques involve spinning at an extremely fast rate to produce tornadoes. Yang Release/Genjutsu Ryu has a particular specialty in his own unique type of genjutsu. Unlike a normal genjutsu, where the target is placed in a world entirely in their mind, Ryu’s genjutsu is more of a hallucinatory process, augmenting the target’s real senses with those of the user’s creation. Ryu uses this most commonly to produce flashes of illusory light to blind and disorient enemies, and to replicate his jutsu in the enemy’s mind, forcing them to decide which attack is real and which is merely hallucination. His yang release chakra can be infused into his wind attacks, making every one into a trigger for the genjutsu. Cooperation Ninjutsu Because of their many years together, Ryu and his team mates have perfected a variety of different cooperation techniques incorporating their various nature transformations. Ryu often acts as the “Finisher” taking down the enemies that Makoto and Reina capture. Weaknesses Ryu’s greatest weakness is his overconfidence, and he tends to lose focus when angered,so a smart enemy will taunt him before and during combat to throw him off his guard. In addition, while he is nearly unstoppable for the first few minutes of a fight, he loses steam rapidly after that, so enemies with particularly tough defenses are difficult for Ryu to overcome. In addition, his skills are particularly weak to Fire Release techniques by their very nature, and he dislikes enemies who use Earth style as well, as they tend to erect barriers that he cannot break through easily. Trivia -Ryu’s favorite word is “Twister” According to the Naruto Databook: -Ryu’s hobby is partaking in sprinting competitions -Ryu wishes to fight his father in his prime. -His favorite food are onigiri, and his least favorite is grapefruit. Quotes “I’m like a twister. There one minute, gone the next, and no enemy left intact behind me.” “You think you’re tough?Let’s go then, we’ll see who’s tough!” (Threatening an enemy) “I’ve killed a lot of people for this village, and I care for its people. All my friends...All your friends are right here!. I’m not gonna walk away just because you don’t like our leader! This has been our home since the day we were born, and you’re just gonna throw that away? Not a chance.” (To Makoto, shortly before their fight.) Category:Kirigakure Category:Wind Release User Category:Kenjutsu Category:Yang Release Category:Former Amegakure Resident Category:Jonin Category:Team Kumiko Category:Genjutsu Category:Amegakure